Contact
Georges Lamborelle
Station manager of Matís Aquaculture Research Station
georges@matis.is
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Author: Kristín Edda Gylfadóttir
Contact
Sven-Ole Meiske
Trial Coordinator of Matís Aquaculture Research Station
sven-ole@matis.is
The particulate nutrient loads from fed aquaculture organisms are disposed of rather than being harnessed as a valuable nutrient resource. Vermifiltration and vermicomposting of solid wastes are promising approaches for minimising environmental impacts of aquaculture and optimizing productivity. The present study tested the suitability of particulate nutrient loads from a warm-water African catfish Clarias gariepinus aquaculture recirculation system and a cold-water rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss flow-through system as food sources for compost worms Eisenia fetida in a 6 wk controlled feeding trial. Throughout the experimental phase, the worms demonstrated a preference for utilizing aquaculture sludge as their primary food source, exhibiting growth and generating nutrient-rich vermicompost. Worms fed with catfish solids exhibited a higher growth rate. A mixed application of both solid types may enhance worm growth. Heavy metal analysis showed cadmium and lead levels within legal limits for feed use, suggesting no immediate safety barrier to including worm biomass in animal feed. However, while these findings support the potential use of worm meal as a feed ingredient, its efficacy as a fish meal substitute must be confirmed through feeding trials.
Contact
Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir
Project Manager
kolbrun.sveinsdottir@matis.is
Svalbard is situated in the north between mainland Norway and the North Pole. In the coming 10 years, the Snow crab (SC) and Red king crab (RKC) are assumed to establish themselves in the fjords around Svalbard. We have explored conditions for utilizing local SC and RKC in culinary dishes/experiences in Svalbard.
This will contribute to Svalbard’s sustainability as most of the food consumed is transported from mainland Norway. Workshops, test fishery, survey of the tourists’ interest, and development of culinary dishes were performed. Furthermore, we have described the biological, practical, and regulatory conditions for local harvesting, processing, and live holding of the crabs in Svalbard. The survey revealed that most tourists did not know SC or RKC. Still, they were interested in local food, including crabs. Challenges have been identified and solutions proposed to ensure that when SC and RKC are present in the Svalbard fjords, a local, sustainable pot fishery can provide locally caught crabs, offering tourists a “taste of the Arctic”.
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Contact
Sven-Ole Meiske
Trial Coordinator of Matís Aquaculture Research Station
sven-ole@matis.is
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Hildur Inga Sveinsdóttir
Project Manager
hilduringa@matis.is
Salmonid blood is an abundant by-product of the relatively large and growing salmonid industry in Iceland and has recently gained increased interest as a source of diverse valuable compounds. Blood collection has posed a challenge due to the delicate nature of both the blood and the currently most valuable final product of the salmonid industry, the fillets. This study examined the efficiency of partial dry-bleeding Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) related to blood recovery and its potential effects on fillet quality compared to traditional bleeding. The quality of fillets was assessed based on parameters, including sensory attributes, physiochemical, and microbial properties for both partially dry-bled and traditionally bled salmon. The results indicated that partial dry-bleeding for 4.5 min effectively recovered blood equal to 1–2 % of the live weight of Atlantic salmon, 75 % of which was obtainable in the first minute and 90 % during the first 2 min. Aside from possibly causing a slight increase in gaping in the fillet, partial dry-bleeding neither affected the flesh quality of fresh salmon compared to traditional bleeding nor following prolonged storage on ice post slaughter. These results provide valuable insight into salmon blood collection practices and preservation treatments for its utilization potential as a valuable resource.
Contact
Georges Lamborelle
Station manager of Matís Aquaculture Research Station
georges@matis.is
This report is closed.
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Contact
Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson
Sviðsstjóri rannsókna
jonas@matis.is
This report presents the background, implementation, results and discussions connected to a peer-reviewed scientific journal article published in the Journal of Cleaner Production in November 2024. Scientific journals have strict requirements regarding the length of articles, and therefore it was not possible to present all the details that the authors would have liked in the paper. This report therefore provides additional information that was not included in.
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There has been a major renewal of the Icelandic trawler fleet since the turn of the century, while the number of such vessels has decreased by almost half. It has been claimed that the new vessels are much more fuel-efficient and that the carbon footprint of the products must therefore have decreased as results. Data on oil imports to fishing vessels seem to support these claims.
To better analyse the impacts of the fleet renewal on the carbon footprint of fish catches, several representatives from the Icelandic bottom trawler sector joined forces with experts from Matís, the University of Iceland and the University of Akureyri that work on assessing the environmental impacts in production systems. Data was collected from 11 trawlers over a 10-year period and a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to analyse their carbon footprint per unit of catch, and then a comparison was made between older and newer vessels to examine if there is a statistically significant difference. The vessels in the sample were chosen to provide a good cross-section of the Icelandic bottom-trawl fleet in terms of size, age, catch composition and location around the country. The sample included four new vessels that were purchased to replace older vessels, i.e. a comparison was made between old and newer vessels from the same fishing company, with the same catch quotas and even the same crew.
The results of the analysis revealed that the renewal of the trawl fleet alone has not had a significant impact on the carbon footprint per unit of catch. Three of the four new vessels examined did not show lower carbon footprint than the older vessels they replaced. The fourth vessel, however, showed a significant reduction in the carbon footprint, but that may be because it replaced two older vessels. The most likely explanation is therefore that since the catch quotas of two vessels were combined on one new vessel, it is the quota status and fishing pattern that had the dominant effect, rather than the age of the vessels. These results consistent with previous studies in Iceland, which have shown that the state of fish stocks, catch quotas, and fishing patterns are by far the most important factors when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions per unit of catch. Thus, the concentration of catch quotas and the reduction in the number of vessels have had a decisive effect on reducing the carbon footprint, rather than fleet renewal. However, it is worth bearing in mind that comparisons between years can be difficult as stock abundance and distribution, as well as catch patterns can vary greatly from year to year.
The results of the life cycle analysis also provided information on the average carbon footprint per unit of catch for the vessels in the sample. This is very important information, as such a comprehensive analysis of the carbon footprint of bottom-trawl catches has not been carried out in Iceland before. Previous data only covered individual trawlers over much shorter periods. The results show that the carbon footprint of a landed cod catch is 0.7 kg CO2 equivalent/kg catch, 0.8 kg when the carbon footprint is allocated to the edible part of the catch, and 4.5 kg when it is allocated to protein content of the edible parts. Similar results were shown for haddock and saithe, but the carbon footprint of redfish is much higher as the fishing itself is more energy-intensive and the utilisation for human consumption is much lower. These results are similar to comparable studies that have been conducted in recent years in the countries the Icelandic seafood industry prefers to compare with. When these values are compared to other protein sources, it is clear that Icelandic bottom-trawl catches are among the protein sources in the world with the lowest carbon footprint. For example, poultry has more than 12 times the carbon footprint per protein unit than the Icelandic cod, pork has 17 times the footprint, and beef has 80 times the footprint. It should be noted, however, that these are global averages.
It should be noted that the life cycle analysis only covered the fishing part of the value chain and that it did not take into account the effects that have been shown in previous studies to have a negligible effect on the carbon footprint of trawling. It also did not take into account the effects of trawling on the seabed, although in recent years it has been suggested that trawling releases large amounts of CO2 that is captured in bottom sediments. However, the scientific community has not agreed on what these effects actually are. The analysis was carried out in accordance with international standards, ISO 14044, and the results are therefore fully comparable with other studies where the same standards have been followed.
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Contact
Georges Lamborelle
Station manager of Matís Aquaculture Research Station
georges@matis.is
This report is closed.
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Contact
Davíð Gíslason
Project Manager
davidg@matis.is
Saltfiskframleiðendum hér á landi hefur lengi grunað að saltaðar þorskafurðir séu oft ranglega merktar sem íslenskar á mörkuðum í Suður-Evrópu. Til þessa að rannsaka uppruna saltfisks sem merktur er sem íslenskur á mörkuðum var safnað saltfisk á fiskmörkuðum, stórverslunum og sælkeraverskunum í þremur borgum á Spáni og tveimur í Portúgal. Sýnin voru arfgerðargreind og borin saman við ætlaða stofngerð þorsk við Ísland og Barentshaf. Niðurstöður benda til að um 15% af sýnum á markaði eru ekki úr íslenskum þorski heldur úr þorski frá Barentshafi.
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Hildur Inga Sveinsdóttir
Project Manager
hilduringa@matis.is
The water scarcity footprint (WSF), carbon footprint, and blue and green water footprints accounting of the aquafeed used in land-based and ocean-based Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) farming in Iceland in the year 2021 were assessed through a cradle-to-processor-gate attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study. The main research questions were: 1) What aquafeed ingredients are environmental hotspots? 2) How does the country of origin of certain aquafeed ingredients affect their environmental performance? 3) Are there any environmental trade-offs between WSF and the carbon footprint of aquafeed ingredients production? All plant ingredients of the aquafeed for salmon farming in Iceland are sourced from abroad, making the sector vulnerable to disruptions within the supply chain, dependent on other countries’ natural resources, and responsible for the contributions put on the local water resources of producing countries. The major WSF contributors were maize meal (for land-based salmon farming) and wheat gluten (for ocean-based salmon farming), which were largely sourced from China. Rainwater (green water) is the largest source of irrigation for all plant-based aquafeed ingredients, which could potentially be depriving natural ecosystems of rainwater if land is transformed for agriculture. The carbon footprint of the aquafeed for the land-based and ocean-based salmon farming was largely explained by soybean meal sourced from Brazil, due to the high land-use changes. Future efforts to reduce water use and carbon emissions should be focused on sourcing aquafeed ingredients based on their lowest water and carbon footprints, as well as with national food security aspects in mind.